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Two Weeks in Greece

I apologize if this has been addressed elsewhere, but I don't see it. So, here goes ...

In June 2014, our family of 5 (2 adults plus 3 college-aged "kids") is traveling to Greece for 2-2.5 weeks. Our final week will be on a private sailing yacht in the Cyclades. So, we're trying to figure out our first week.

Initially, we were going to spend 3-4 nights in Athens and then rent a van and head elsewhere for another 4 nights or so. We have found a fantastic house in Athens (right near the Acropolis), so I am now considering something else ...

What if we stayed in the Athens house for 7-8 nights, spent the first 3 or so days exploring Athens, and then used the rest to do day trips (in a rental van - the house has on street parking and a pay lot nearby as a backup) from Athens?

My concerns about this are twofold: 1) Is there someplace farther away than a day trip that we will kick ourselves for not visiting? (Yes, I realize that we can't see everything on the mainland in 1 week.) 2) Will we spend too much time driving, getting to destinations (e.g., Delphi, Nafplio, Corinth, maybe places farther away from Athens) and back to Athens to appreciate them?

Opinions on whether this is a good plan? Suggestions for day trips from Athens are also appreciated, keeping in mind that we will be spending 1 week island-hopping (and, most likely including Cape Sounion one direction or the other).

I agree if you are spending a week on a yacht you should spend the other week on the mainland. Athens is great, but not necessarily as a base for day trips to other parts of Greece. Some of the sights, e.g. Delphi and Nafplio, could be done as a day trip, but would be rushed and less satisfying than had you stayed overnight. Other sights, e.g. Olympia and Meteora, are further away from Athens, and would require at least one overnight stay.

Really, though, you can't see everything in a week, so maybe those sights that are further away could be left for another trip. You won't need a car in Athens itself, as there is an excellent public transport system, and most of the important archaeological sites are in a central pedestrianised area.

Thanks to Heimdall and clausar for the quick responses. We're not fans of constantly changing hotels, but maybe we'll stay in Athens for 4 nights and maybe try Delphi as a day trip from there. Then, we can head to Nafplio for 3-4 nights and use that as a base for the Peloponnese.

Are you planning to return to Greece in the future?
Here is a different way to frame the visit. Suppose you want to stay equal number of days in Athens and Napflio over all your visits. Should you allocate equal number of days for this visit? Of the cities you mentioned, Athens is a gateway city while others are not. What does it mean? If you visit Greece, you will likely to visit and have to stay in Athens over and over. In this case, if you put equal weight in Athens, over period of time, you will over visit Athens and under visit other locations. If you allocate visits over all your planned visit to Greece, you might realize you do not have to spend a lot of time in Athens on any one visit.
Another item is the number of places to stay. Is changing hotels a zero sum game to you? If this is the case, minimizing the move makes sense. If not, you can put together various scenarios to compare which combination of places to stay optimizes the hassles of moving around vs. opportunity to visit places. One of the place Heimdall mentioned, Meteora, is one awestruck place I have ever visited. If you visit one archaeological site after another, they might start to look similar (sorry). Meteora is something completely different.

greg: I would love to go to Meteora, and I agree about overdoing the archaeological sites. As for whether we will return to Greece, it's always possible, but I am planning this trip as if it will be our only one. (There are a lot of countries still to be seen!)

Back to Meteora: I originally was planning to go there, but I thought that it might be too ambitious and at the expense of the Peloponnese. So, I feel like we need to make a choice between these 2 areas.

As for moving around a lot, we find checking out of and into hotels constantly to be too rushed, and it doesn't give you an opportunity to enjoy where you are. As a general rule, I like a minimum of 3 nights and 2 full days.

I have an American cousin who lived in Meligalas (Southern Peloponnese) for 2 years in the 1980s. I'm checking with him to see if it's worthwhile to visit that town (especially if he still knows people who live there).

If you have a suggestion for how to see Athens, Meteora and the Peloponnese (or convince me that we shouldnt' do the latter), in 8 or so days, I'm all ears (well, eyes, I guess)!

Meteora is a very interesting place to visit, but located too far away from Athens and even further away from the Peloponnese.

Given the fact that you don't like changing hotels, your idea of staying in Nafplio and doing day trips from there is quite good.

Meligalas has a place in Greek history, but is definitely not a place i would visit. The Southern Peloponnese instead is very beautiful and worth a visit with the Messinian and Laconian Mani, the castles of Pylos, Methoni, Koroni and Kalamata, the archaeological site of Ancient Messini, the Temple of Vasses, the medieval Mystras and the unique Monemvasia.

You could see most of that while based in either Kalamata or in one of the beautiful nearby villages of Kardamili and Stoupa.

June is actually a good month to travel because all these places won't be crowded and the weather won't be too warm !

clausar - Thanks for the helpful information. We are now leaning towards 3-4 nights in Athens and 4 nights in Nafplio. Hopefully, we can use Nafplio as a base even for the Southern Peloponnese. Otherwise, it's 2 nights in Nafplio and 2 in the South, and, as you know, we're trying to avoid that. (But, if we need to, we can. It's just a preference.)

I am looking at houses/apartments in Nafplio, which works well for our family of 5 (vs. cramming into 2 hotel rooms). But, if you recommend a hotel in Nafplio, please let me know.

FRom Nafplio, you can enjoy exploring ( not necessarily in this order)
• The Old Town, plus Palamidi Fortress, Plus Arch Museum and/or Folklore Museum
• Mycenae (go EARLY) and/or Tiryns (my preference)
• NEMEA!! (Olympia without the Crowds or the long 4 hr drive! -- plus a vineyard visit!) ... suggest u do this in car enroute to Nafplio or on way back to Athens area, just off main hiway below corinth a few miles
* EPIDAURUS -- go in AM, find a beach in afernoon
• BEACH + Ruin .. coming back from Ep, try ASINE/KASTRAKI or TOLO..

-- These are the places u can explore while staying in Nafplio ... if u want to do Monemvasia & Mystras, or Olympia, you are going to have to overnight in another place.

I know u don't like to change hotels, but in Greece you have to choose between staying put, vs. seeing everything you want. A lot of people come from Italian vacations with the "base" concept but it doesn't work in Greece the way it does in Tuscany. Enjoy your trip!

I think you have a great plan and are taking enough time to relax and take it all in. There is lots of good day trips around Nafplion but you might consider doing one overnight and take in Mystras the last home of the Byzantines and then head down to Monemvassia a 15th century town where you can spend the night in a period room inside the city walls. Our room had a gunport in the bathroom.
Here are images of
Nafplio and Peloponnese http://www.flickr.com/photos/stanbr54/sets/72157632094108982/

I would strongly suggest another day trip from Nafplio, without cultural interest, but with lovely landscape and beaches, almost unknown by the crowds -a bit off the beaten track. You drive south close to the coast: Nafplio-Astros-Tyros-Leonidio-Plaka-Poulithra. From Nafplio to Poulithra is about 85km and the route, especially south of Astros, is very, very scenic (I would suggest to do this in a working day instead of weekend). Places of interest: (You will pass a lot of nice places but you have to skip them as your time will be limited.)So: Leonidio is one of the best preserved small towns in Greece, just have a quick look. Its little port -Plaka, some 4 km away- is picturesque, but avoid the tavernas. There are 2 nice beaches here. To my opinion, next village Poulithra is a little gem. The upper part of the village has lovely old traditional houses, there is a good beach, and a very good taverna "Zavalis" on the beach road. A lovely secluded beach is Agios Georgios about 3 km away(I was there on June and I saw a seal at 10 m). The area has crystal clear waters and behind is the green mass of Mt.Parnonas Worth it if you have some time to drive from Poulithra up to Peleta -its a beautiful tiny village of Parnonas (about 15 km)and from there to Fokiano bay (a remote lovely beach with 2 tavernas and 4 rooms to rent -that's all -like being at the end of the world). Another option is to drive from Leonidio to Kosmas village (also mount. Parnonas), its a bigger one and more developped than Peleta, and the route is breathtaking. Of course to do the hole in one day is impossible, but make your own choice. I can send you some photos if you are interested. Have a nice time

What a fantastic itinerary. We loved the area around Nafplion and I agree with the others who suggested an overnight trip further south to beautiful Monemvasia. We did that, driving through Kosmas on the way down (and past the stunning Elona monastery). The scenery is jaw-droppingly beautiful and Kosmas was a very nice spot for lunch. You could take the coastal route kastellina recommended on your way back to Athens (it's a slower drive than the highway but worth it). I also think you'll love spending two nights in Delphi after your sailing adventure.

Here are the things I was hoping to do as day trips (not necessarily in this order, except Day 1 and Day 6, since they’re travel days from and to Athens). I know that this is probably too ambitious, but this is the distilled version It's OK to tell me I'm crazy ...

Day 1: Ancient Corinth and Nemea ruins and vineyard, on drive from Athens to Nafplio.

Day 2: Nafplio

Day 3: Monemvasia, hugging the coast, per kastellina’s recommended route. Consider staying over, but most places are already booked for June 18, 2014!? And, if we do this as an overnight, we lose a day?

Day 4: Day trip to Olympia. I know some say that, if you see Nemea, you don't have to go to Olympia. But, it's the birthplace of the Olympic flame, and it seems extra special. Convince me otherwise?

Day 5: Vouraikos Gorge: Diakofto–Kalavryta Railway. This looks amazing, and it also seems like a great change of pace. There are only so many ruins you can visit!

My only thought - it's A LOT of driving to do all that as separate day trips from Nafplion, and in so many different directions. I would cut Olympia - that is like a full day in the car. I am also surprised that the places in Monemvasia are already booked for mid-week in mid-June. Did you look at Monopati Apartments? We didn't stay there but we stumbled upon the apartments while wandering - they were super charming.

Day 3: Monemvasia, hugging the coast, per kastellina’s recommended route. Consider staying over, but most places are already booked for June 18, 2014!? And, if we do this as an overnight, we lose a day?

Where did you get the idea hotels are already fully booked for June 2014? They probably haven't even started taking reservations for next summer yet.

Many hotels in holiday areas of Greece wait until after the New Year to take summer bookings. If the hotel shows nonavailability, more than likely that simply means their reservation books for next summer aren't open yet.

To further frustrate early planners, some hotels on the islands don't even check their emails after they close for the winter in October. They are probably off somewhere taking a well-deserved holiday after a busy summer.

The easiest way to check is simply pick up the telephone and call the hotel during Greek business hours. A short international call isn't all that expensive, and will save you sitting at home wondering. For the record, if I were planning a trip to Monemvasia next June I wouldn't even start looking for a hotel room until next January or February at the earliest.

Monemvasia won't be full during June of 2014 for sure...
Most hotels inside the castle of Monemvasia do not close during the winter, as it is a popular destination for Greeks, especially during the week ends.
Since the hotel is now in full operation, they would definitely reply to your email.
Regarding hotels in Monemvasia you won't get necessarily better rates through booking engines. ( inside the castle that is)

I find Olympia to be a must see archaeological site, for the reason that you mentioned, it is the birthplace of the Olympic games.... and the whole drive from Nafplio to Olympia is very scenic, there are lots of nice villages to visit on the way

Thanks for the feedback on hotels in Monemvesia. I have emailed 7 of them, so I'll see what I can find. Since we're a family of 5, we need to book farther in advance, especially for places with just a few rooms.

Thanks also for confirming that Olympia is a "must see" site. I have read some reviews of people who did both Nemea and Olympia and said, while Nemea is interesting, it can't be compared to Olympia.

So, I'm mulling around the following road trip for a couple of crazy intense days.

Am I completely insane? Or, is the bit of insanity worthwhile for what we'll be able to experience? We're not running ourselves ragged for the rest of the trip - it's a pretty relaxed pace - so, I'm inclined to do this. Unless, you guys convince me otherwise!

I've done day trips out of Athens on 2 different visits over the years and haven't found them overly taxing. If you decide to base yourself in Athens by all means do so. In both the 1970s and again in 2008 I found Delphi and back in a day was easy enough. I prefer the old highway via Elefsina and Thebes.

Doing a circuit of Attica is easy enough down the west coast and then back north to Marathon more or less by the east coast.

In 2008 we drove to Mycenae, Tiryns and had lunch in Nafplion. Then on to Epidaurus and back to the Corinth Canal at Isthmia via the coast road. We were back in Athens by early evening and although it was a full day it was wonderful.

Thanks, but we have already decided to spend 4 nights in Athens and spend those 3 days exploring Athens, then spending 5 nights in Nafplio, using that as a base to explore the Peloponnese. We will be spending 2 nights in Delphi, a week later (after a week of island-hopping the Cyclades).

Harroody
If you decide to visit Olympia, I would skip Vouraikos Gorge. If you like a little bit of action, I would suggest a (easy) river trekking to Neda gorge which is lovely -lush vegetation + river + deep turkoise lakes along the flow + waterfalls (it is on the way from Olympia to Nafplion via Kalo Nero). It is also very close to the Temple of Vasses (Unesco site).
In this case, I would suggest the following itinerary:
Day1.Athens to Olympia (via Levidi). Sightseing and overnight Olympia
Day2.Olympia to Neda gorge - River trekking -Temple of Vasses-Nafplio via Kalo Nero (see Viamichelin site). Overnight Nafplio
Day3. Nafplio + day trips. Overnight Nafplio
Day4. Nafplio to Monemvasia via Leonidio + Kosmas. Overnight Monemvasia
Day5. Daytrip to Kyparissi, 57km-1.5h driving north via Limani Geraka (beautiful bay and village in the middle of nowhere -although might not be shown on the map, there is a paved -and very scenic-road). Or just enjoy Monemvasia castle
Day6. Monemvasia - Athens (via Sparta, chance to see Mystras if time left).
In case you decide you to give up Olympia, an alternative could be Athens-Areopolis or Itylo for 1 night in order to see Mani, Dyros cave,etc, then from Itylo (or Itilo)to Monemvasia (2nights) and Nafplio (2nights)
Also, don't be at all concerned about reservations. Nothing will be full during June of 2014!